A comedy about the valley, its people, and…chickens?

On December 21, Pandering Productions, a Rio Grande Valley-based content producer, held its second casting for a comedy sitcom pilot called “Something Fowl” in the Brownsville Public Library. The next day, at Austin Street Bar in McAllen, Texas, they held the final casting call, cementing the roles for “Something Fowl.”

“Something Fowl” delves into the supernatural and urban legends of the Rio Grande Valley, while being set in a fictional universe with similarities to Valley. The pilot will be shot on-location around the Valley, featuring the many “Valley-isms” that local viewers would recognize.

The series will be about different stories about the different people living in the area and the shinanigens they get into. The name of the show, “Something Fowl,” refers to chickens playing some role in the show, but what role is unclear. The show’s creators told the PRESS that revealing the source of the show’s name is a spoiler.

“There are certain things that are unique to the Valley that you don’t get in other places, and we would like to feature that,” Peter Garcia, said director and producer of “Something Fowl” and co-founder of Pandering Productions.

Garcia wants to highlight the Valley and its people, by making the show have a diverse cast, ranging from locals that don’t speak English–but perfectly understand it–to your “Winter Texan” who’s lived in the Valley on-and-off for years.

“There’s so much more to the Valley than what the media see now,” said Edie Castillo, assistant director of “Something Fowl.”

Castillo mentioned the booming film industry coming to the Valley, referring to it as the coming trend, saying Austin’s film boom ten years ago has slowly developed more projects coming to Texas and, more specifically, to South Texas.

Around 30 people were called back to audition for “Something Fowl,” eagerly waiting to read their lines to the crew. The auditionees were new and experienced.

Doug Monroe auditioned for the “father” and “shape shifter” roles, having some experience with stage acting at the Camille Playhouse in Brownsville. Monroe was an extra in a Cisneros and Palmer film called The Curse of the Mayan Demon this past August.

Idelfonso Ortiz, when asked if he had any experience in acting, said with a smile on his face “nothing never.” His daughter, Lilia Ortiz, and granddaughter Sofia Valdes, asked if he wanted to audition, and he said yes, saying that it would be a new and different trade. Lillia, who also didn’t have previous acting experience, was auditioning for the role of “crazy old person” which was the same role her Idelfonso was auditioning for. Sofia, who was auditioning for the role of “sibling,” was the most experienced of the family, having acted in plays and participating in UIL acting competitions.

Ahlaura Kaufman, a three-year stage dancer, was auditioning for the “oldest sibling” role in the pilot, and when asked said that she was happy to just be a part of the experience.

Shooting for “Something Fowl” will begin early next year, around late February or early March, with twenty local crew members and approximately thirty local actors.